


Judy and the Bears

by Doug48



Series: Zoo 1.1 [4]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Drama, Gen, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-17 13:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11852757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doug48/pseuds/Doug48
Summary: Judy meets Mr. Big and his Bears, and then Nick meets them again





	1. Meeting the Bears

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote and posted a story [Zoo 1.1] in which Judy and Nick don't get caught by Raymond and Kevin at Tundratown Limo because Judy got the case later in the week, and so they didn't meet Mr. Big the night of the wedding. Then I thought I'd like Mr. Big to still be the same character and be in my story later, so I wrote this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bunny out writing traffic tickets meets a couple of polar bear wise guys

“Sir, you can contest your ticket in traffic court if you disagree with it,” I said for what felt like the tenth or twentieth time that morning. I am beginning to see why the Chief regards this duty as a punishment and why some others agree with him, but I am not going to slack off and not give tickets to deserving drivers! Like this gentle mammal who was clearly parked far too close to that fire hydrant. What if there had been a fire and the fire mammals were unable to access the water supply properly?

“I was only parking here a minute!" He says, as I print out and give him the ticket, which he then crumples up, but he does not throw it on the ground. "My taxes pay your salary!” 

I’m not really sure what he thought he was accomplishing with his shouting and hand waving, but I am glad that I do not have to give him a ticket for littering. Did he really think I might reconsider and NOT give him a parking ticket because he got mad? That would be silly. Chief wants 100 tickets a day, and I am determined to give him at least that many. The first day, I wrote 200, and that was before lunch. But I did not have to spend as much time talking about traffic court that first day, so I might not get 200 today. 

I am about to tell him about traffic court, again, when he sees something behind me, gets a funny look on his face, turns around and runs as fast as he can. He is no cheetah, but he is fast. Then I realize, too late, that I should have been looking behind me. 

“Mr. Big wants you to know that he is very happy with your services,” a voice said in a kind of slow and exaggerated way. It sounded like he did not normally speak, or possibly that he did not normally speak this language. 

I turn around and see two huge polar bears. One is wearing a necklace and both wear suits. The necklace is in the shape of a golden dollar sign. One carries a briefcase, and the other does not. I can see a nice car behind them, and I wonder if they had put money in the meter? Probably not. That meter had had thirty minutes on it when I passed by a few minutes ago. There had also been a different car parked there and the driver had been nearby, but I guess he must have left. 

“Sure, no problem. Just doing my job,” I assure him. I expect them to go back to their limo, if that is their limo behind them, but they do not move. “I kind of have to get back to my job….”

“You are rabbit Officer Judy Hopps? You saved Mr. Big’s daughter, Fru-Fru, from a giant donut on Monday. Fru-Fru was recently married and Mr. Big told us to give you some token of his gratitude so you may also share in their happiness,” dollar sign bear says. 

“What are your names?” I ask, because I do not want to continue thinking of them as dollar sign bear and non-dollar sign bear, and they clearly have something more on their minds than a simple thank you.

“I am Kevin. This is Raymond.”

“OK. Kevin, I am just doing my job. Please tell Mr. Big… well, please tell him it’s nothing and I’m happy for him and his daughter,” I say, hoping they will leave. They do not. 

“Please accept this token of Mr. Big’s gratitude,” Kevin says and tries to hand over the briefcase. If I did not know better, I would have guessed it was full of money by the way he handled it and the apparent weight, but who does that sort of thing? Especially handing such a thing to a cop in broad daylight. It is so absurd that I have to stop myself from laughing! I am pretty sure accepting a briefcase, especially a nice one like this, would be seen as bribery and so I can not accept it. 

Kevin looks puzzled a moment and puts the case on the ground.

“If you do not want the case, maybe you want something else? Kevin and I are at your service. You want someone thumped? We saw that mammal interfering with you in the conduct of your job earlier, and we could find him and discuss his traffic obligations,” Raymond says, more or less normally. Kevin grunts at this and make an odd kind of gesture with his massive paws by putting them together. 

“No, no, that’s fine,” I say, trying to figure out how to send these two away happy and not be forced to explain to the Chief where or how I got free luggage while on the job. Their taxes actually do pay my salary. Why do so these guys think I need more incentive to do my job? 

“If not a favor for you, maybe you would like a favor for someone you know?” Raymond asks.

That gets me thinking. Didn’t Nick say something about the owner of that limo service not liking him much? Mr. Big was that owner, so…“Could you ask Mr. Big if he would agree to reconsider whatever the problem is with Mr. Wilde? Do you know Mr. Wilde, by the way? I don’t know what the problem is, but Nick is a friend and he’s very upset about it.” In fact, I don’t know what emotion, other than terror, that Mr. Big causes Nick to feel, but ‘upset’ seems to be a better word to use just now. 

The bears look at each other. Then they look back at me. Then back at each other. “We have met this fox. That is a big request, but we will convey it to Mr. Big. I can not say what will happen, but if you see us again, it will be because Mr. Big has agreed to your request. Good day,” Kevin says. Raymond just nods. 

One of the bears picks up the briefcase and then they both walk back toward the limo. When they reach the car, I hear Kevin say “I wish she would have just asked us to thump someone. Boss isn’t going to like it.” Then they got in the car, and left.

I wonder what that was about?

As soon as the spot is vacant again, another vehicle pulls in and parks. This car looks like the one that was in that spot before the limo arrived, and the driver seems to be very relieved. 

I go back to writing tickets and wonder what I am going to say to Nick about this. Maybe I could just not mention it?


	2. Nick and Mr. Big

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick has to talk to Mr. Big and his bears, but he's not very eager.

“Carrots, don’t be alarmed, but there are two polar bears coming toward us.”

“What?” She looks, but then turns back to me. “Oh, them. I am sure they do not mean any harm.” 

Judy and I are standing in the downtown park near ZPD, and there are other mammals around, but nobody is paying much attention to us. We’re just a civilian fox and a police rabbit, and she doesn’t look very concerned. It’s just a typical day and I’ve been helping out on the missing mammals case. 

Not much luck there, yet. We know that both Otterton and Manchas have disappeared. First Otterton, and then Manchas. Manchas was driving the limo that Otterton was seen entering the last time anyone saw him. We think Otterton was kidnapped because he hasn’t been seen in three weeks and it seems reasonable that Manchas was taken by the same mammals. If he was taken, of course. All we really know is that the jaguar is gone, and he was injured when Mr. Otterton disappeared because there was blood near the driver’s compartment and nowhere else in the vehicle. Otterton disappeared a few weeks ago and Manchas disappeared recently. Both are predators and both have a connection to the limo and Mr. Big, but the otter is a florist and the jaguar is a chauffeur. Who would want both of them out of the way like this? 

“Mr. Big would like to speak to you, Mr. Wilde. Officer Hopps, you can come also if you like,” the larger one, Kevin, says. The other one is Raymond. They didn’t introduce themselves, but I know who they are. I worked for Mr. Big until an unfortunate incident with a skunk butt rug terminated my employment and almost terminated my life as well. As far as I know, Mr. Big has not forgiven me and these bears still work for him, so seeing Mr. Big again could be very unpleasant. I have not told Judy the reason Mr. Big banished me, but I have told her that he was upset and that I wasn’t allowed back on his property. 

“I’m sure this is not something in which Officer Hopps needs to be involved,” I say trying to get between her and bears. I wondered if she can fight bears?

“Nick, it’s OK. I will come with you,” Judy says. She sounds and smells very calm. The bears are just standing there. They're predators like me and far larger than Judy and me, but their body language does not appear to be aggressive or threatening in any way. 

Judy and I go with the bears to their limo and the four of us get in. Raymond in front and Kevin with us in back.

"This is just like the one that Mr. Otterton was in when he vanished," Judy says. I wish she would have kept that information to herself.

“Umm, Carrots, do you know what’s going on?” I ask as the car starts moving. I can see out the windows that we are headed toward Tundratown and so, probably, toward Mr. Big’s villa. 

“Mr. Big just wants to have a word with you. Relax. It is not a big deal,” Judy says, patting my knee. 

I try to act calm. Judy is calm, and maybe she does know what's going on? Kevin says nothing throughout the ride, but then, he certainly knows more about this than I do. He takes out his phone and probably starts looking at pictures. He’s doing that finger swipe thing mammals do when turning pages on their phones, anyway. He's sitting across from us and polar bears like him are taller than foxes like me, so I can’t see what he's looking at. 

The limo stops when we get to the villa. Raymond opens the door, and then Kevin gestures us to proceed him out. We get out and the bears escort us inside. That is, one gets in front and the other gets behind Judy and me, possibly to stop one of us from running away. 

“How old is this place, anyway? The architecture is very impressive,” Judy asks. Raymond looks at her a moment and mumbles something that sounds like “ancient.” Rabbits hear better, so Judy probably understands whatever it is he said. She nods, anyway. 

We’re ushered into Mr. Big’s office and then wait. There are no chairs in the room; it’s just a large open space with a desk, rugs on the floor, a couple of doors, and bookshelves. There is ice in some of the corners, but the room is comfortable. I’ve heard stories about this office, but never actually seen it. There is supposed to be a trapdoor over a lake of freezing water below. Probably under one of the rugs? One of the rugs that is certainly NOT made from skunk butt hair. 

One of the doors opens, not the one we had used, and another polar bear comes in. This one is larger than Raymond or Kevin and he carries something in his cupped hands. I know he’s carrying Mr. Big and I half expect Judy to ask me if the bear is Mr. Big, but she doesn’t. I remember that the shrew always liked to travel this way to de-emphasize his small stature compared to other mammals and mob bosses. The bears, of course, were raised in his household and would do anything he asked them to do. Including icing my partner and me. 

Mr. Big is set down on the desk, already in his custom chair, and then he is turned around to face the two of us. He just looks at us a moment and I hold my breath. He holds out his ring and I hurry forward to kiss it because I was his employee once and I hope to be back in his good graces now. Judy is surprised to see him, and she doesn’t move, but Big doesn’t seem to mind. His face, and body for that matter, are small, and so it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking at times like this. He used to just tell us what to do and that's how I knew what was on his mind. 

Finally, he speaks. “Nicky, I’ve been thinking. Thinking about the past and how maybe it should stay, in the past. That thing with the skunk butt rug… That should never have happened.” He pauses.  


I can feel Mr. Big, and probably everyone else in the room except me, waiting. I don’t know what to say.

“Nick, just tell him you’re sorry,” Judy says. She puts her hand on my knee again. 

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, but that doesn’t seem to be enough, so I add, “It was a stupid thing for me to do.” 

“Grandma ma never knew. Had she known, she might have been very upset.” Here Mr. Big and all the polar bears in the room make a kind of hand motion indicating reverence. I make no motion and neither does Judy, but she hadn’t known Grandma ma and I don’t know if I’m allowed to participate in what may be a private show of sorrow for Mr. Big’s current household alone. “I buried her in that rug at her request. Later I found out what it was. That’s when I banished you.”

I nod, and allow myself to be at least cautiously optimistic. I don't think I'm getting iced today. 

Big looks at me and seems to come to a conclusion. “I have decided to forgive you, Nick. You can’t work for me again, but this sort of thing was never any sort of career for a mammal like you in any case. Go, with my blessing.” He extends the ring again, I kiss it again, and then Raymond leads me out, back into the room we have already seen. Kevin follows. 

“Officer Hopps. Please stay a moment,” Big says before the door closes. 

I stop and reach out for her, but Judy just makes a kind of shooing gesture, so I leave the rabbit alone with the shrew and the biggest bear. She rejoins me a few minutes later and then we are escorted back to the limo and get back in for the ride back to Downtown.

“Carrots? What was that about?”

“Oh, you know, I saved his daughter from a giant donut and he wanted to thank me,” Judy says. 

Giant donut? The way she says it sounded absolutely true. Am I losing my touch? I can usually tell when someone is selling me a line. “You were in there too long for just that,” I tell her.

“He also told me what Mr. Manchas said to him about Mr. Otterton.”

I wait for her to give me more details, but she doesn’t seem to be in a talkative mood so I ask. “What did Mr. Manchas say?” 

“I’ll tell you later,” she says. 

Raymond and Kevin escort us both back out the last door and back to the limo and then back to the park. We get out, but the bears don’t. Judy waves cheerfully and the limo drives away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I liked Chapter 1 more than this one, but I usually find Nick's point of view easier to write than Judy. Judy is so positive sometimes that I worry about making her seem stupid [which is NOT the intent], and I don't have that problem with Nick. On the other hand, I'm not sure what Nick would have said to Mr. Big here.


End file.
